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RESOLUTIONS  OF   THE  HOUSE    OF    REPRESENTATIVES. 


Resolved,  That  the  President  be  respectfully  requested  to  inform  this 
House — 

1.  Whether  Chas.  K.  Hyde,  a  citizen  of  Augusta,  County,  Va.,  who, 
on  the  20th  day  of  the  present  mouth,  was  arrested  in  the  city  of 
Richmond,  and  confined  in  a  prison  known  as  "  Casde  Thunder,"  was 
BO  arrested  and  imprisoned  by  the  military  authority  of  the  Confede- 
rate States,  and,  if  so,  by  what  officer,  and  under  what  orders. 

2.  For  what  offence  the  said  Chas.  K.  Hyde  has  been  seized,  searched 
and  deprived  of  liberty;  upon  whose  oath  or  affirmation  he  was  charg- 
ed ;  by  what  warrant  or  other  process  he  was  taken,  and  under  what 
law, 

3.  Whether  the  said  Chas.  K.  Hyde  has  been  examined  or  tried  for 
the  offence  charged  against  him,  and,  if  so,  in  what  Court,  or  before 
what  tribunal  and  with  what  result. 

4.  Whether  the  said  Chas.  K.  Hyde  belongs  to  the  land  or  naval 
forces  of  tlie  Confederate  States,  or  is  liable  to  military  duty  under 
any  law  tuereof. 

Resolved,  also.  That  the  President  he  requested  to  communicate  to 
this  House  copies  of  any  orders  or  other  papers  relative  to  the  case  of 
the  said  Chas.  K.  Hyde,  with  a  statement  of  any  testimony  taken  in 
the  case. 


MESSAGE  OF  THE  PRESIDENT. 


m  Richmond,  Va.,  September  27 ,  1862 

To  the  House  of  Representatives : 

I  herewith  transmit  for  your  information  a  report  from  the  Secre- 
tary of  War,  upon  the  case  of  Charles  K.  Hyde,  in  response  to  your 
resolution  of  the  20th  inst. 

JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 


LETTER  OF  THE  SECRETARY  OF  WAR. 


CONFEDERATK  StATES  OF    AmERICA,  ^ 

War  Department,    w         > 
Richmond,  Sept.  27,  1862.      ) 

His  Excellency  Jepferson  Davis, 

President  Confederate  States  of  America  : 

Sir  :  I  have  the  honor  to  return  the  report  of  Brigadier-General 
John  H.  Winder  and  of  the  Provost  Marshal,  in  the  case  of  Chas.  K. 
Hyde,  in  response  to  the  resolution  of  the  House  of  Representatives, 
adopted  on  the  2()th  instant.  The  order  under  which  the  arrest  was 
made  had  never  before  been  submitted  to  the  department,  and  conceiv- 
ing it  to  be  unauthorized,  I  have  ordered  it  to  be  materially  modified. 
It  having  been  found  that  the  establishment  of  agencies  for  the  pro- 
curation of  substitutes  led  to  desertion  and  was  pernicious  to  the  dis- 
cipline of  the  array,  the  General  commanding  the  department  of 
Henrico,  was  authorized  to  forbid  the  practice,  but  it  was  not  intended 
that  this  prohibition  should  be  enforced  by  impressment  and  confisca- 
tion, and  I  am  informed  that  in  these  particulars  the  order  has  never 
been  executed. 

The  facts  of  the  case  appears  to  be  briefly  as  follows : 

Mr.  Hyde  was  found  in  the  act  of  procuring  unnaturalized  foreign- 
ers as  substitutes,  in  express  violation  of  a  General  Order  of  the  War 
Department.  He  acknowledged  the  agency,  and  was  understood  as 
admitting  that  he  acted  as  a  general  agent,  and  therefore  was  supposed 
to  be  violating  the  order  of  the  General  commanding  the  military  de- 
partment. 

He  was  committed  to  prison,  remained  a  few  hours,  was  bailed,  and 
the  next  day  on  the  facts  of  the  case  being  known  he  was  released  from 
his  obligation  of  bail. 

Martial  law  still  existing  in  Richmond,  although  the  writ  of  habeas 
corpus  is  no  longer  suspended,  I  must  request  instructions  as  to  the 
extent  of  the  powers  of  the  military  commandant  of  the  city,  and 
whether  he  may  suppress  tippling  shops,  agencies  for  procuring  substi- 
tutes, and  other  practices  subversive  of  the  discipline  and  efficiency  of 
the  army. 

Very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

GEO.  W.  RANDOLPH, 

Secretary  of  War. 


REPORT  OF  BRIGADIER-GENERAL  WINDEft. 


Headquarteks  Department  of  Henrico,  } 

Richmond,  Va.,  Sept.  26th,  1863.       ^ 

Hon.  G.  W.  Randolph, 

Secretary  of  War, 

Richmond,  Va. : 

Sir:  I  have  the  honor  to  enclose  herewith  the  report  of  Major  E. 
Griswold,  Provost  Marshal  of  this  city,  in  the  case  of  Chas.  K.  Hyde, 
and  other  papers  touching  the  case  referred  to  me  by  the  War  De- 
partment. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be. 

Your  obedient  servant, 

JOHN  H.  WINDER, 

Btigndier-  Genet  al. 


» 


y 


REPORT  OF  MAJOR  GRISWOLD. 


Provost  Marshal's  Office, 

September  24th,  1862, 

Major  Page,  A.  A.  G.  : 

Sir  : — Tn  regard  to  the  case  of  Charles  K.  Hyde,  the  following  are 
the.  facts : 

By  virtue  of  Special  Order  No.  1 18,  from  headquarters,  a  copy  of 
which  I  herewith  return,  I  have  given  special  directions  to  my  detec- 
tive officers,  to  ferret  out  all  such  agencies  as  are  mentioned  in  the  or- 
der, and  arrest  the  parties. 

Under  these  instructions,  officer  John  Reese,  on  the  2l)th  Sep- 
tember,  observing  circumstances  of  a  suspicious  nature,  in  the  con- 
duct of  Charles  K.  Hyde,  (then  unknown  to  liim  by  name  or  other- 
wise,) and  being  told  he  was  a  substitute  agent,  asked  him  the  ques- 
tion :  "  are  you  a  substitute  agent  ?"  Hyde  replied  that  lie  was.  He 
then  asked  him,  "  what  substitutes  he  was  procuring  ?"  or  to  that  ef- 
fect, and  two  men  were  pointed  out,  Thomas  Adams  and  James  Car- 
ney.    The  officer  arrested  the  three  and  brought  them  before  me. . 

The  above  evidence  was  given  in  the  examination,  and  with  the 
parties  Avas  found  the  accompanying  papers,  niarkcd  ''  A"  and  "  B," 
showing  that  Hyde  was  obtaining  substitutes  for  two  parties,  namely : 
Henry  J.  Showalter  of  Augusta,  in  the  State  of  Virginia,  and  James 
P.  Ochlctrec,  of  the  same  place. 

One  of  the  substitutes  stated  that  he  was  to  receive  $800.  This 
evidence'  was  given  in  the  presence  of  Mr.  Charles  K.  Hyde,  who 
made  no  denial  of  th:;  facts;  but  simply  asked  the  privilege  of  seeing 
certain  friends,  which  I  told  him  he  could  do.  It  was  then  after  busi- 
ness hours,  on  Saturday  the  2(Jth.  I  considered  the  circumstances^ 
sufficient  under  tlie  order,  to  commit  Mr.  Hyde  for  a  more  extendedw 
examination.  No  application  was  then  made  for  bail,  and  I  ordered 
his  committal. 

On  the  same  evening,  certain  friends  of  Mr.  Hyde,  applied  to  me 
at  my  private  rooms  to  admit  him  to  bail,  which  I  did  at  once,  on  as- 
certaining the  sufficiency  of  the  bail,  by  sending  an  order  to  my  Ad- 
jutant to  admit  him  to  bail  until  IMonday  morning  at  9  o'clock. 

On  Monday  morning,  the  case  with  all  the  papers,  and  evidence, 
was  promptly  sent  before  Comjnissioner  Baxter  for  examination, 
^vhose  report  I  herewith  return,  and  upon  this  report  Mr.  Hyde  was 
released. 

The  above  arc  the  facts.  I  desire  to  add,  as  this  case  has  become  a 
matter  of  publicity,  that  I  have  used  tho  utmost  vigilance,  and  appa- 


6 

vently  rigid  measures  in  these  cases  of  substitution,  not  only  because 
it  Tvas  my  duty  under  the  order  of  General  Winder,  but  because  it  is 
notorious,  that  through  these  substitute  agents,  the  vilest  men  and 
abandoned  villians  from  the  purlieus  of  our  large  cities,  are  being 
substituted  and  placed  in  the  army,  side  by  side  with  the  sons  and 
brothers  of  our  best  and  most  loyal  citizens,  who,  as  volunteers,  have 
left  everything,  home,  friends  and  comfort,  to  serve  as  privates  in  our 
gallant  army,  thus  adding  to  the  privations  of  camp,  this  wicked 
companionship,  and  greatly  demoralizing  the  service.  Besides,  it  is  a 
constant  practice,  after  the  substitute  has  received  his  enormous  boun- 
ty and  divided  it  with  the  agent,  to  desert,  and  in  combination  with 
the  agent,  to  substitute  again  and  again,  dividing  their  degrading 
spoils.  No  one  who  had  any  knowledge  of  this  vile  work  and  the  ex- 
tent of  demoralization  ensuing,  would  arraign  vigilant  and  prompt 
measures  to  break  up  the  practice. 

In  the  case  of  Mr.  Hyde,  having  acknowledged  he  was  an  agent, 
he  made  no  pretence  before  me  that  he  was  not  a  general  agent ;  but, 
he  was  found  in  company  with  a  drunken  man,  a  foreigner,  only  18 
months  in  this  country,  one  of  his  substitutes,  who,  in  my  presence 
and  in  the  process  of  the  examination,  rudely  seized  from  my  hands  the 
papers  I  was  examining,  and  delivered  them  back,  only  when  com- 
pelled by  my  officers, 

I  ought  further  to  say,  in  justice  to  myself,  that  I  am  informed  by 
Judge  Baxter,  who  examined  the  case,  that  Mr.  Baldwin,  the  member 
from  Virginia,  who  brought  this  case  before  Congress,  stated  to  him, 
that  my  conduct  to  Mr.  Hyde,  to  himself,  and  all  the  parties,  was 
courteous  and  forbearing,  which  failed  to  apppear  in  his  public  re- 
marks on  the  subject. 

In  regard  to  other  allusions  made  on  the  floor  of  Congress,  it  is 
sufficient  to  add,  that  the  officer  making  the  arrest  is  a  native  Vir- 
ginian. Very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

E.  GPJSWOLD, 
Major  and  Frovost  Marshal. 


[Extract.] 

Headquarters  Department  of  Henrfco, 

Richmond,  Fc,  August  1st,  1862, 


Special  Orders, 
No.  118. 


III.  The  obtaining  of  substitutes  tbrougli  the  medium  of  agents,  is 
strictly  forbidden ;  when  such  agents  are  employed,  the  pincipal.  the 
substitute  and  the  agent,  will  be  impressed  into  the  military  service, 
and  the  money  paid  for  the  substitute,  and  as  a  reward  to  the  agent, 
will  be  confiscated  to  the  government.  The  offenders  will  also  be  sub- 
jected to  such  other  punishment  as  may  be  imposed  by  a  Court  Mar- 
tial. 

*  *  *  *  *  * 

By  order  of  Brigadier  General  John  H.  Winder. 

[Signed,]  J.  W.  PEGRAM, 

Assistant  Adjutant  General. 
Headquarters  Department  of  Henrico, 
Richmond,  Sept.  23d,  1862. 
Official,  J.  W.  Pegram, 

A.  A.  General. 

Major  E.  Griswold, 

Provost  Marshal, 
Richmond,  Va. 


BRITISH  CONSULATE, 

State  of  Virginia. 
No.  1515. 
I,  Frederick  J.  CridlanJ,  Her  Britannic  Majesty's  Acting  Consul 
for  the  State  of  Virginia,  do  hereby  certify,  that  the  bearer  Mr. 
James  Carney — a  native  of  Waterford  County,  Ireland, — is  a  subject 
of  Her  Britannic  Majesty,  "who  has  never  forfeited  his  claim  to  the 
protection  of  the  Queen,  by  becoming  a  subject  or  a  citizen  of  any 
Foreign  State.     The  bearer  is  40  years  of  age. 

Given  under  my  hand  and  seal  of  office,  at  the  City  of  Richmond, 
this  20th  day  of  September,  1862. 

FRED.  J.  CRIDLAND, 
H.  B.  M.  Acting  Consul. 


I  hereby  declare,  on  oath,  that  I  am  not  a  resident  of  the  Confede- 
rate States  of  America  and  am  not  a  citizen  thereof,  and  have  never 
made  a  declaration  of  intention  to  become  such.  And  that,  to  the 
best  of  my  knowledge  and  belief,  I  am  not  subject  to  enrolment  in  the 
army  of  the  Confederate  States. 

I  have  not  received  from  or  paid  to  any  agent  money,  and  I  am  not 
a  member  of  any  company  whatever. 

JAMES  CARNEY. 

Sworn  to  before  me,  this  20th  day  of  September,  1862. 

I  do  hereby  certify,  that  I  have   carefully  examined  James  Carney, 
and  find  that  he  is  competent  and  able  to  discharge  military  duty. 
Given  under  my  hand  this  20th  day  of  September,  1862. 

Post  Surgf.on,  P.  A.  C.  S. 


Headquarters,  Richmond,  Sept.  20,  1862. 
I  do  hereby  certify,  that  Henry  J.  Showalter,  of  the  County  of 
Augusta,  in  the  State  of  Virginia,  a  member  of  my  company  before 
being  mustered  into  service,  having  furnished  an  able  bodied  man, 
well  clothed,  in  the  person  of  James  Carney,  who  has  been  accepted 
by  me  as  his  substitute  for  the  Avar,  he,  the  said  Henry  J.  Showalter, 
is  hereby  honorably  discharged  from  service,  under  the  law  and  order 
regulating  the  same. 


BRITISH  CONSULATE. 

State  of  Virginia. 
No.  1514. 
I,  Frederick  J.  Cridland,  Iler  Britannic  Majesty's  Acting  Consul 
for  the  State  of  Virginia,  do  hereby  certify,  that  the  bearer  Mr. 
Thomas' Adams, — a  native  of  Liverpool,  England, — is  a  subject  of 
Her  Britannic  Majesty,  who  has  never  forfeited  his  cl^im  to  the  pro- 
tection of  the  Queen,  by  becoming  a  subject  or  a  citizen  of  any  Foreign 
State.     The  bearer  is  38  years  of  age. 

Given  under  my  hand  and  seal  of  office,  at  the  City  of  Richmond, 
this  20th  day  of  September,  1862.. 

FRED.  J.  CRIDLAND, 
IL  B.  M.  Acting  Consul. 


I  hereby  declare,  on  oath,  that  I  am  not  a  resident  of  the  Confede- 
rate States  of  America  and  am  not  a  citizen  thereof,  and  have  never 
made  a  declarratiou  of  intention  to  become  such.  And  that,  to  the 
best  of  my  knowledge  and  belief,  I  am  not  subject  to  enrolment  in 
the  army  of  the  Confederate  States. 

I  have  not  received  from  or  paid  to  any  agent  money,  and  I  am  not 
a  member  of  any  company  whatever. 

THOMAS  ADAMS. 

Sworn  to  before  me,  this  30th  day  of  September,  1862. 

I  do  hereby  certify,  that  I  have  carefully  examined  Thomas  Adams, 
and  find  that  he  is  competent  and  able  to  discharge  military  duty. 
Given  under  my  hand  this  20th  day  of  September,  1862. 

Post  Surgeon,  P.  A.  C.  S. 


Headquarters,  Richmond,  Sept.  20,  1862. 
I  do  hereby  certify,  that  John  P.  Ochletree,  of  the  County  of 
Augusta,  in  the  State  of  Virginia,  a  member  of  my  company,  before 
being  mustered  in  service,  having  furnished  an  able-bodied  man,  well 
clothed,  in  the  person  of  Thomas  Adams,  who  has  been  accepted  by 
me  as  his  substitute  for  the  war,  he,  the  said  John  P.  Ochletree,  is 
hereby  honorably  discharged  from  service,  under  the  law  and  order 
regulating  the  same. 


REPORT  OF  COMMISSIONER  BAXTER, 


Beport  on  cases  of  Charles  K.  Hyde  and  Thomas  Adams . 

In  this  case  on  his  examination,  Hyde  stated  he  "was  a  citizen  of 
Augusta  and  one  of  the  Constables  of  that  County.  Pie  had  repeat- 
edly been  applied  to  to  get  substitutes,  and  had  always  declined,  until 
he  was  applied  to  by  two  of  his  neighbors,  Ochletree  and  Showalter, 
to  come  to  Richmond  and  procure  substitutes  for  them,  lie  did  so, 
and  was  to  have  his  expenses  paid,  but  to  receive  no  other  compensa- 
tion. He  came  to  Richmond  and  advertised  for  substitutes  and  found 
two.  He  took  them  to  Captain  Wallace,  of  the  Jackson  Guards,  who 
wa^  willing  to  receive  them.  While  he  was  having  the  papers  pre- 
pared, he  was  arrested  and  taken  before  Major  (jrriswold,  who  committed 
him. 

John  Reese  stated  he  heard  Mr.  Hyde  was  getting  substitutes,  lie 
went  to  him  and  asked  him  if  he  was  a  substitute  agent.  Hyde  re- 
plied he  was.  Reese  arrested  him  and  took  him  before  Major  Oris- 
wold.  After  they  left  Major  Griswold's  office,  and  were  on  their  way 
to  the  prison,  Hyde  told  Reese  he  was  not  a  general  agent,  but  only 
acting  in  these  special  cases. 

I  understood  Hyde  to  admit  Mr.  Reese's  statement  to  be  correct. 

Mr.  Hyde  proved  by  Captain  Baldwin,  Captain  Walker,  Mr.  Hun- 
ter and  Mr,  Kenney,  he  was  a  man  of  honesty  and  fair  character,  a 
Constable  of  Augusta,  and  carefully  observant  of  law. 

From  the  character  of  Mr.  Hyde  and  his  statement  before  me,  I 
am  satisfied  he  is  an  honest  man  and  good  citizen.  That  he  came 
here  to  procure  substitutes  for  two  neighbors,  as  a  matter  of  kindness 
to  them,  that  he  is  not  one  of  those  men,  who,  for  gain,  are  speculating 
on  the  morals  and  discipline  of  the  army. 

I  recommend  he  be  discharged  and  be  permitted  to  complete  his  ar- 
rangements as  far  as  they  are  lawful. 

S,  S.  BAXTER,  Commissioner. 

September  23,  1862. 

Thomas  Adams  was  one  of  the  substitutes  engaged  by  C.  H.  Hyde. 
He  says  he  is  an  Englishman,  Avho  has  been  in  this  country  eighteen 
months.  When  he  was  before  the  Provost  Marshal,  he  admits  he  at- 
tempted to  snatch  his-  British  protection  from  the  Provost  Marshal. 


u 

He  appeared  penitent,  says  he  was  drunk  and  did  not  know   the   Pro- 
vost Marshal  was  an  officer. 

If,  on  examination,  his  officer  is  willing  to  receive   hiui,  ho  may 
make  a  good  soldier. 

S.  S.  BAXTER. 

September  23,  1862. 


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